Begging For a Second Chance
by HecateMagik
Summary: There is nothing worse than when other people make choices for you regarding your own life. Follow the two different time lines where different people end up making the same mistakes and the same corrections. HPGW: JPLE.
1. Chapter 1: It's a little bit funny

Begging For a Second Chance

Hey everyone! This is my first Harry Potter fan fiction so please have pity on me! I am open to all kinds of reviews. Let's face it, no one on this website is perfect and we can use all the help we can get. I am not going to touch the demise of Voldermort, because let's face it, J. K. Rowling is the only one who can truly portray that story. Instead I am going to write about two girls who feel lost because the people they love are making the decisions for them. So we are going to pretend the end of the sixth book didn't exactly happen. Please don't hit me and enjoy!

HecateMagik

**Disclaimor: I only play in the imaginary world created by J. K. Rowling. Don't sue me please…**

Chapter 1

It's a little bit funny…

**Fall 1977**

Isn't it a little bit funny when everyone always thinks they know what the right thing to do is when it comes to other people? Lily Evans thought it was sad. How come other people decided they could act in her best interest?

She crumbled the note she had just received by the school's owl.

_..Petunia has invited Vernon's family over for Christmas dinner to finalize some of the wedding plans. I know it is horrible to ask you LilLil, but you know how temperamental your sister is. Only the best will do for her. We are extremely proud of your success, but as you know, we can't explain you schooling to the Dursleys. We will see you at the end of your second term. Continue your good work. _

_Love,_

_Mum_

Lily felt her blood boil. Why did her sister always feel the need to isolate her? Ever since Lily's first year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Petunia felt the need to make Lily feel extremely unwelcome. Little things like making sure not to invite Lily along with her when she went out with her friends made Lily feel unwelcome. Petunia would only invite her friends and boy friends over when Lily was away at school. During the winter and summer months, Petunia would avoid their house like a plague, making sure no one knew of her extra special sister. The worst had been after her sixth year; Lily had carried her trunk up the narrow staircase of her home only to find her door to be locked. She jiggled the handle couldn't get the old door to turn. She found her mother cooking over the rickety old stove.

"Why is my door locked?"

Her mother bent her head lower over the pot. Lily thought she heard her mumble something.

"What?"

Her mother turned around and looked at Lily with the same green eyes she had. "Petunia did it," she said simply.

Lily coughed. "Can I ask why she felt the need to lock my door?"

"Well, she had some of the girls overnight and she didn't want them accidentally stumbling across your room." Her mother turned back to the pot.

"I take all my school things with me during the term. There would be nothing in there to embarrass her."

Her mother just hummed softly as if ignoring her.

"What is it?"

"Well," her mother turned around and paused, "they don't know she had a sister. She just told him it was a closet that Pa keeps all his spare tools."

Lily just stared at her mother.

"Oh LilLil, it's just too hard sometimes. Petunia wants to be a normal girl honey. It is too difficult to explain where you go for the year. She doesn't want people to know she is related to a…"

"A witch? What is the shame of that? I don't go around stealing the villagers' children and cook them in my cauldron for the love of Jove!"

Lily's mum crossed the small space and put a hand on her shoulder. "But you do indeed have a cauldron."

That had been the final step in the process Petunia had started. No longer where there pictures of Lily sitting on the mantle place seen anywhere in the small two floor house. All the artifacts a person left behind were gone in the Evans' household. It was like Lily never existed.

Now Lily was back at school for her last year. She dropped the crinkled piece of paper underneath the table in the Great Hall of Hogwarts castle. She wasn't the only one who could pretend someone didn't exist.

**Fall 1998**

Isn't it a little bit funny when everyone always thinks they know what the right thing to do is when it comes to other people? Ginny Weasley had been trying to ignore it for months. When ever she thought of him, she would squeeze extra hard on the skin of her arm. The physical pain made her forget about the emotional. Alright she was kidding herself, but that's what she did. It was better than dwelling on the Boy Who Lived. Boy Who Lived! More like the Boy Who Decided Thinks He Can Tell Her How She Should Really Feel.

Who would have thought when they had exchanged their kiss the winter before everything would go so horribly wrong? Harry Potter was everything Ginny had been looking for in a man. He was kind and compassionate. He could think on his feet. He knew how to make her laugh. And the way he filled out his uniform didn't hurt either. And what girl could seriously resist his charm anyway? He was more than his tragic past, but unfortunately that is all he ever thought about anymore. He never thought about the future anymore, maybe he never did.

Ginny pinched herself for even dwelling on him. She instead went back to the Muggle book her father had sent her in his last owl. Dwelling on other peoples problems were a lot better than thinking about hers. Especially since there were always interesting looking couple plastered on the cover.

"What are your reading, Mudblood lover?"

Ginny's red head shot up. Draco Malfoy was peering over her shoulder, staring at her book. He was a seventh year along with the Boy Who Wasn't On Her Mind. He was unfortunately the vilest person currently attending Hogworts.

"Please keep your evil tongue to yourself, Malfoy."

Malfoy chuckled. His hair was pale under the lights of the Great Hall. "Well are we a little testy, Mz. Weasley. Is that the only thing your father could afford to give you this year? A Mudblood book. Very nice."

Ginny sent him a look. "Please go away, I am doing nothing to you."

Malfoy laughed. "Why are you even still down here? Dinner has been over with for ages. Did they kick you out of Gryffindor? Too many red heads running about for their taste?"

Ginny decided not to even dignify the twit with a response. She turned back to her paperback and read more about how Sebastian was trying to woo a love scorned Ginger back.

The one thing Draco Malfoy detested was being ignored. He swooped down over the girl and grabbed the book from her hands.

Ginny jumped up. "I am not in the mood! Give me my book back!"

Flipping through the pages, Malfoy began to laugh. "Ah, so this is what you do instead of trying to jump Potter. Good choice Weasley. This book is probably better that he could ever be."

Ginny had been told more than once that her skin turned red very easily. When she was embarrassed, when she was scared, and especially when she was mad, her normally pale cheeks turned as red as a tomato. It made teasing her way to easy for Malfoy.

"Hit a nerve huh? This is the best you are probably every going to get. Weasley's never go far."

Ginny could barely breathe she was so mad. Her fingers itched to grab her cherry wand from her robes. But she wouldn't satisfy Malfoy. She sat back down on the bench and placed her tiny hands on the table. She folded her hands together.

Malfoy said a few more taunts, but she refused to respond. In disgust he tossed her book underneath the table. To top it off he 'accidentally' knocked into Ginny on his way out. She banged her forehead against the side of the table and slumped to the ground.

Touching her head to make sure she wasn't bleeding, Ginny crawled under the table to get her book. Oh great, just her luck. The corner of the paperback somehow managed to get caught in-between the oak floorboards. She grabbed it hard out of frustration. Part of the cover ripped as she fell back and hit her head again.

Saying a few words her mother Molly would surely chastise her if she knew, Ginny retrieved the rest of her book. But something else caught her eye. It looked like there was a whole in the floor. She crawled back under the table to examine this newly discovered place. She pulled out her wand and murmured the incantation. Her wand's tip glowed. It looked like an old tree knot had broken off over the years. She reached down and pulled out a crinkled piece of paper.

_Dear Lily,_

_I know you were so looking forward in coming home for winter break, but I have to be the bearer of bad news. You just can't this holiday. Petunia has invited Vernon's family over for Christmas dinner to finalize some of the wedding plans…_

Ginny sat under the table in Hogworts castle reading an old owl. It appeared she wasn't the only one who felt all alone.


	2. Chapter 2: Everybody knows

Begging for a Second Chance

**Hi again. Word of advice oh readers. Never drink a high caffeine drink a few hours before you wish to go to bed. It is not exactly a wise decision. But luckily for you, it means I am going to write an update. Thanks to Claidi Shoru and Rembrandt for your reviews. I appreciate it greatly!**

**HecateMagik**

Chapter 2

Everybody knows that I was such a fool…

**Fall 1998**

"Is anybody there?" Harry Potter banged on the Gryffindor girl dormitory door. He wasn't terribly surprised with no response. It was two o'clock in the afternoon during a school day. What sane girl would be actually in her room instead of classes? What sane girl would actually open the door to the Head Boy when they should actually be in classes?

_You know who you wished was in there, Potter. You thought you caught a glimpse of red hair flash through the common room not to long ago. Wishful thinking on your part. _

Ginny Weasley wasn't exactly avoiding him. It just appeared she was. Every time he approached her in the Great Hall, she usually had to get to class or to the library or to a teacher's office. She never talked to him alone anymore. What did he expect?

_You told her that you would both be better off alone. That it would be too difficult dealing with Voldermort and having a relationship with her._

He was such an idiot. He just didn't want her to get hurt. Apparently anyone who got to close to him ended up dead. Why let her risk her life for him? He wasn't exactly sure how much of a future he actually had. According to the prophecy, both could not survive while the other lived. Harry had been doing many interpretations, but he had a sick feeling that it might end up being both of them couldn't survive at all. He just didn't want her to be hurt.

He walked over to the fireplace where he had his last few conversations with Sirius Black, his godfather. Harry eased down into the comfortably stuffed chair and leaned his head back. If only he could talk to Sirius now. He never had anyone in his life that he could confide with. Sure Ron Weasley was always there for him, but how do you talk to your best bud about problems regarding his best bud's younger sister? There are some things that you can't talk about. No matter how brilliant Hermione Granger was, she was still a girl. Girls didn't understand what guys felt like inside. He had the sick feeling that she would feel the need to hit him. How can girls understand the need guys felt to protect the ones they loved? Sure, he knew Ginny was a capable witch. But that didn't mean he should be selfish and make her stay with a lost cause.

He stared into the empty fireplace. Sirius represented the parents he never had. Harry curled his legs under his black school cloak. Sirius had been the link to James and Lily Potter that Harry had desired for so long. He had known them the way Harry had been unable to. He had laughed with them. He had cried with them. He had been able to ask them some of the questions that Harry would never be able to.

Harry stared blankly ahead that he didn't notice the flash of red hair that went out the portrait hole. He felt like the biggest fool and deeply alone.

**Fall 1977**

James Potter walked quickly down the steps from the male dormitory to the Gryffindor common room while whistling a song under his breath. It was the middle of the afternoon and there was no one in the main living space. He approached the portrait hole of the fat lady that would lead him into the main hallways of the school when he heard a gasp behind him.

He turned sharply, the flaps of his deep black robes snapping with his body. James' hand was already reaching for his wand when he paused. It was just Lily. She was curled up in one of the overstuffed armchairs in front of the fireplace. Her eyes were staring blankly in front her.

"Lily?"

She closed her eyes and curled up tighter.

"Lily, what's wrong?" James walked in front of the chair and kneeled down.

Lily mumbled something inaudible.

He placed a hand on hers. "Tell me."

She looked up into his concerned face. His dark black hair was in his usual disarray. His grey eyes were filled with concern. His smile appeared strained. "I can't…" she began softly, "I can't go home with you."

He furrowed his brow. "Why is that?"

Her bottle glass green eyes were wet with tears. "I don't belong there."

"What nonsense is this? Of course you belong there." James was confused. It made perfect sense to him. Why should Lily wander around the empty halls of Hogwarts over the winter holiday when his mum was urging him to bring home students? Sirius was already a member of the family, and his mum was dying to meet the young woman that had stolen her baby's heart. Lily and he had been dating for almost a year, and every time James thought of his gifted girl he smiled. She was the one of a few things that actually made the last year worth living. With the increased terror brewing from the rise of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, living was a scary thing. Death-Eaters were popping out of every corner, ready to take out as many Muggle born witches and wizards as possible. "Tell me what is really bothering you, Lil?"

"I am going to die." She sniffled.

"Excuse me?"

She sat up. "James. It's only a matter of time before _they_ find me. I am a _Mudblood…_"

"Don't you dare call yourself that, Lillian Evans!" James gripped her hand. "You are the best and brightest our year has to offer the wizarding world when we graduate. You have top O.W.L scores, and you are going to beat the hell out of the N.E.W.T.'s. You are Head Girl! Stop speaking foolishness." He rushed the word out. But he slowed down for the most important part, "You are the kindest, sweetest, most exceptional person in this entire building. You are more than a dirty word 1st years mumble."

"_He_ doesn't care about that. _He_ just wants to kill. I will be killed. I can't be apart of your life anymore. I can't be apart of anyone's lives anymore."

James felt his heart drop into his lower intestines. "What are you trying to say? Are you breaking up with me?"

Lily bit her lip as she nodded.

"No… no"

She pried his hand off of hers. "Yes, James." She jumped up and moved passed him.

Lily walked as fast to the steps to the girls' dormitory.

"Lily, no"

She walked up the steps and opened the door without looking back. She felt her heart shatter into a million different pieces.

She was such a fool. But he wouldn't be hurt.


	3. Chapter 3: All there is left

Begging for a Second Chance

**Hello again. Ah, New England is very rainy this weekend, so I am going to update. Wee! Thanks go out to Burping Bubbles and Kates Master for their kind reviews. Have a good week! **

**HecateMagik **

**PS: I hope Kates Master doesn't throw herself off a wall or send Errol at me. **

**PPS. I just found out that my account didn't allow anonymous reviews. I fixed that! Oops!**

**PPS: Thanks to MariaCachucha for pointing out my error. I took changed James eyes to their real color… double oops**

Chapter 3

All there is left.

**Summer 1977: Flashback**

Lily Evans sat on her bed shuffling through school work. Which parchments did she not need for her last year at Hogwarts? What should make it into her trunk for that last journey to the school?

It was only halfway through July, and the sizzling summer month had her already yearning for the future.

Her long red hair was tied into a messy knot at the top of her head. Her pale white cheeks had a smudge of dirt from the packing. She wore a plain pair of blue pants and a bright yellow tank top, both as dirty as her young face.

She picked up her worn copy of _Hogwarts: a History _and absently went through a few pages. Her mind didn't even examine the familiar pages, but instead it was miles away.

"James" she sighed. She hadn't seen James Potter since they stepped off the train a month and a half before. Every day was agony until she was going be in his arms again. They had been dating for just over six months, and at school she had treasured every moment of it. It wasn't just because he was one of the most popular guys in her year, or that he was ridiculously good looking with his messy ink black hair and dreamy hazel eyes. No. James Potter had the innate ability to make her laugh. He would just cock one of his eyebrows while a professor was speaking and she would burst into giggles. Her new playfulness had surprised many of her classmates. Smart, kind, and considerate were adjectives usually used to describe Lily. Deliriously happy usually never was. The same could be sad with James. Cocky, rakish, and sometime juvenile, James was never said to be selfless. But ever since he started dating Lily, he stopped being as taunting to his classmates, and he _almost_ treated Serverus Snape like a human being. Almost.

Lily fiddled through a few more pages when she noticed a scrap of paper wedged into the spine. "What in earth" she mumbled as she pulled the scrap out. It was folded exactly in half, and a piece of red wax sealed it shut. She slid her finger under the seal and opened the letter.

Inside in his typical chicken scratch was a message from James.

"_Darling Lily,_

_I just knew you would be unable to resist opening even the oldest one of you text books this summer, so I thought you would enjoy a message to get your button nose out of a book. You are the best thing that has happened to me, and I can't wait to see you as soon as I can. If I planned things correctly, it will be before the next term. Oh, you are coming back into the room, looking quite gorgeous I might add…_

_Until I can say it to you in person, I love you truly,_

_James"_

As soon as Lily finished reading the note, it jumped out of her hand and formed a pair of human lips. It flew up to her mouth and gave her an over zealous kiss before folding itself back up. She just smiled as she lay down onto her bed. Although it was covered with papers, she just closed her eyes and drifted into a nice daydream.

Lily didn't know how long it was when her eyes opened again, but she could have sworn she heard screaming. She almost fell out of her bed as she rushed to the door. She burst into the hallway and down the short flight of stairs into her family's parlor. Her older sister, Petunia, was screaming at the top of her lungs. Lily gasped.

"James?"

Standing in the middle of her fireplace in her very Muggle home was the one, the only, James Potter. His face was covered in ashes, but it only made is white smile shine brighter. "Hello Lily"

Petunia let out another shrill as she yelled, "Lily, you know this… this…"

"Handsome wizard?" James supplied to the stuttering Petunia.

"Intruder!" Petunia's shoulders arched back on her thin frame. "What is he doing here? What if Vernon saw? How could you honestly be so selfish, Lily? Mum and Dad would disapprove if they were home instead of on holiday!" She kept on rambling.

James stepped out of the fireplace and shook some of the ash onto her mother's very clean floor. Lily would have to take of that later. But she couldn't resist grabbing his hand as soon he stepped close enough to her. She sent her sister a small grin. "I guess Vernon won't be able to spend the evening here." The thought made Lily smile bigger. She hated Vernon. "I would like you to meet my boyfriend, James Potter. James, this is my darling older sister, Petunia."

Petunia sent her a scowl. "Just wait until mother finds out! A wi.. a freak in my house! I won't be apart of this." She took her typical _graceful_ strides and grabbed her handbag as she slammed the front door shut.

They just stood there for a second in the middle of the ash covered parlor. Almost at the same time did both of them turn to each other and grasped each other in a firm embrace.

"I missed you so much James! How are you here?"

"I convinced my dad to work out a special birthday present. Your house is linked up to the floo network for the day. I have to leave by this time tomorrow, or I will have to figure out how to use Muggle transportation."

Lily stared down at his cloaked attire and laughed. "Wouldn't that be something to see!" She reached up for his glasses and took them off. "You got them smudged again."

Before she could wiggle herself away, he held her tighter. "Well, it makes doing this so much easier." He bent down and kissed her lightly on her red lips.

"Oh," she said softly. Her grip loosened around his glasses as they clattered to the floor. She leaned in to his embrace and felt her skin just to heat up.

After a while she pulled back. He sent her a questioning look.

"I love you too." She said slowly.

His eyes lit up. "You got my note."

"Yes, silly boy. You knew I would find it."

"But I didn't know how you would respond…"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to hers. "I love you, James. Now you are stuck with me." She kissed him, feeling for the first time all summer completely at home.

**Fall 1977**

Lily rolled over in her sleep curling tightly into a ball. She tugged her quilt closer to her covering her whole body. She could fight the memories as much as she wanted during the day, but at night the most precious scenes of their relationship. Her stomach felt ill. She unwillingly opened the rest of her mind to the rest of the details of that trip.

After embracing in the hallway for who knew how long, she coaxed him into the kitchen and sat him down in one of the stools as she brewed him some hot chocolate. He told her some of the goings on that were happening at home, how Sirius Black and Mrs. Potter were becoming more like mother and son as the days passed. She had no problem making sure he towed the line she had set up her son, but made him feel the love a parent for the first time.

She cried as she told him the story of her coming home for the summer. How it hurt to feel like she was slowly being pushed out her home. He put his arm around her waist as he pulled her closer. They had kissed again, and even in her dream Lily could taste the bittersweet chocolate on his lips.

Eventually they made their way up to her room and cuddled together on her bed, talking about how they wanted their lives to turn out in the future. Lily desperately wanted to do something with her charms and potion skills while James wanted to pursue his transfiguration gifts. Both wanted to live and then settle down and have a good family. Lily wanted her future children never to feel unwanted in the place they called home. She wanted them to always feel loved.

Thinking back on the conversation, it was almost foolish for two 16 years-olds to have. It was much too serious. They had only just announced their love for each other. But it felt so right that night to be in his arms.

Lily curled tighter into her ball of comfort. She couldn't do anything else but just lie in her bed and let the memories wash over her in sleep. Because that is all she had left.


	4. Chapter 4: Sweet Longing

Begging for a Second Chance

**Colds are icky, dear readers. Nothing is worse than waking up in the morning and having a stuffy nose. I slept so much today that I now have the night time hours to write, so I guess that is a good thing for you guys! Thanks for the help and reviews from Fork-tofu-pingpong-fish, White Foam, MariaCachucha, Hnz786, and Katesmaster. Reviews aren't everything, but they do motivate you to update sooner! And yes, this chapter will only have Ginny/Harry, so enjoy!**

**HecateMagik**

**PS: This document was written under the influence of Nyquil…**

Chapter 4

Sweet Longing

**Summer 1998: Flashback**

Ginny Weasley scurried around her room, rearranging the object on her shelves without much thought. _He was coming._

She quickly made her bed, unable to stop the shaking in her small white hands. She pulled the pale patterned quilt tight on her bed just as her mother showed her. Molly Weasely would hardly tolerate a messy household, a standard she had stamped onto her youngest child and only daughter. It was quite difficult being the only Weasley girl. She was expected to mini-Molly, always there to nurture and soothe, when the only thing she longed to do was be in the middle of trouble like her older brothers. She never had the urge to be a goody two shoes.

That is why she enjoyed herself at Hogwarts. She was able to maintain the balance between troublemaker and lover. No one messed with Ginny Weasley. But she made sure many boys in the school longed for her.

_He was coming today. _

She paled a little as the thought crossed her mind again. She walked over to her window that faced over the garden and just stared out for a moment.

Although she was barely 16, she had felt a lot in her few years. The urge to be able to keep up with her brothers, the yearning to be understood by someone when she wrote to Tom Riddle, the fear of being left out more than once are all emotions the young girl has felt. She also is trying to deal with her feelings for Harry Potter.

She sat down on the corner of her neatly made bed allowing herself to think of him for a moment.

She had always known of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. She heard his name whispered in conversation between her parents as she was growing up, and then later when Harry and Ron had become good friends during their first year at Hogwarts. But she never truly thought of him as a person. He was this legend. Harry was what stories books were made of. But then one morning the summer before her first year at Hogwarts, she ran down her kitchen steps and ran straight into him. When she first saw him, she felt her heart stop. She didn't need Ron to introduce him to her. The lightning bolt scar on his forehead was enough information for her. It was Harry Potter, and he was eating breakfast in her kitchen!

It took her over two years to get over he childish crush for him. Her first feelings for him were just out of awe. She made him into this wonderful creation. The perfect boy of all time, one that was worthy of her attention! Expect she had been unable to say more than a word to him at a time. When he saved her from Tom Riddle's grasp, it was amazing. She felt so foolish for having done all those horrible things, but he made her feel that it was ok.

Ginny's friendship with Hermione Granger helped her past her unrequited affections. Hermione urged Ginny to move on, to make connections with other boys since Ginny didn't really know the true Harry. And she had been right. And that is how Harry eventually became her friend.

Ginny plopped down on her bed in disgust. She still missed him, not only her love, but also as her friend. She had been able to tell him things that she had been able to barely think of before in her past.

She fiddled with her hair aimlessly. It was a bright as the sun and almost as deep in color.

She understood why he didn't want to be with her anymore. It wasn't because he didn't care for her. He just didn't want her to be hurt. But it didn't help at all.

Ginny closed her eyes and let sleep come over her like a soft spell even as the afternoon rays poured through the windows. Her heart was coming back to her.

The house that sat in the Burrow was not in the best of shape. If someone didn't know the wooden floors as well as a Weasley child, then they were most likely going to trigger one of the floor boards to squeak.

Ginny's eyes fluttered open when she heard the familiar noise of the wood give outside her door. She sat up quickly, and rubbed the sleep from her deep brown eyes. The moonlight shone through the cracks of her blinds. She had slept the evening away.

She almost plopped back down to sleep when she heard the squeak again. Who was outside her door? Ginny wearily walked to the entrance of her room and turned the handle. There was no one outside, and she felt her stomach to begin to turn. Her wand was on top of her dresser, and she dreaded the thought of turning her back and opening herself up to attack.

She eased back. "Who is there?"

The house was eerily quiet. Then the squeak happened again, except this time much closer.

"Reveal yourself!" she was able to keep the terror out of her voice as she spoke out.

Taking another step back, Ginny reached her arm out, ready to grab her wand, when she felt a set of arms grab around her waist. She let out a small squeal as she fell back onto her bed. "Hel.."

A hand muffled her yell. "Ginny, it's me."

Ginny stared out into nothingness. "Harry?"

A hand appeared out of nowhere and pulled away at the open space. Harry's body was slowly revealed as his Invisibility cloak dropped to the ground. "Hi"

"What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to talk." He got off of her bed and closed her door. "You weren't here to greet me when I came this afternoon."

"I feel asleep." Ginny's heart started pounding. Being in the same space as him was making her nervous. "What time is it?"

"Just after two." He whispered loudly. "Everyone is sleeping."

Ginny's eyebrows scrunched together. His voice seemed heavy with something other then tiredness. "Have you been drinking?" she accused.

He just smiled. "I have no idea why you would say that."

"You are slurring your words."

"No, I'm not."

"Harry," she said impatiently, "why are you here?"

He sat back down on her bed. "Well Ron and I decided to split a bottle of Mead to celebrate my birthday, and he passed out, and I got lonely. And I just really wanted to see you. I missed you so much, Ginny."

Harry slumped into her on the bed and removed his glasses.

"I really missed you" he said again.

Ginny didn't know what to say.

He clumsily put his arms around her. "Didn't you miss me too?" he whispered into her ear. She could smell the honey wine on his breath. It wasn't completely rancid, but it was enough to make her heart sink.

"I don't think it is the best idea for you to stay in here Harry…"

"Why not, I won't try anything. I just want to hold you." He pulled her closer. Her small body fit into the scoop of his masculine one. "I just want to kiss you" he spoke even softer. She felt his lips on her cheek.

"Harry"

"Say that you missed me."

"Harry…"

Too many emotions filled her chest. She had to stop this. She went to pull herself out of his embrace when she felt his grip loosen followed by a snore. He was asleep.

She allowed herself to snuggle closer. "I missed you too, Harry." She knew he wasn't going to remember that in the morning, but she would.

**Fall 1998**

Ginny sighed as she laid her head on her pillow. Did it make her weak to cherish the moments Harry forgot to pretend he didn't care for her? That night had been like a drop of water in a drought. He managed to wake up before her and slip away before she woke up. He pretended he didn't come to her in the middle of the night for comfort.

Ginny prided herself for being a strong woman, but there were times when it was late at night that she just missed him. And worried for him. She fiddled with the piece of paper that she found on the floor in the great hall. He didn't have many people to worry about him left, and she didn't want him to be alone anymore. How could she get him to need her back? What would Lily do?


End file.
